Hollywood Africans

Jean-Michel Basquiat painted Hollywood Africans in 1983 after an extended visit to Los Angeles. The painting is acrylic and oil stick on canvas and measures 213.5 x 213.4 centimeters. Basquiat emerged from being a graffiti artist in New York to becoming a well-known and celebrated Neo-Expressionist artist. Basquiat's unique take on art showed that American Punk could be embraced in art while showing his urban roots and Afro-Caribbean heritage. Basquiat used his artistic talents to the problems that plague society, especially in African-American culture. Basquiat would discuss the class system, racial tension, and the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The issues reflected in his paintings were based on his personal experiences, since he was homeless when he was a teenager and would use his art to get by financially. Basquiat had no formal training in drawing, so he drew words and cartoonish figures with a splash of paint. His unique method of painting caused immense interest because he did not use the traditional  method of painting instead he used his art to communicate his feelings and thoughts to the viewer. In Hollywood Africans, Basquiat uses these techniques to discuss racial issues in the entertainment business.

In the painting Hollywood Africans, Basquiat is showing the theme of race and the struggle for acceptance in America.  The painting is used to show the problems that blacks must endure in the entertainment business and the issues that arise from constantly being stereotyped. In order to get his point across, Basquiat would write words on the canvas only to cross the terms out, this technique is used to draw the view to the painting. In addition, the strike-through of the words shows that Basquiat wants the oppression to end. The strikethrough the “Bwana”, an East African word for master, is to show the end to being controlled by others.The terms in the painting are meant to show the restrictive roles that African-Americans had to play in the entertainment business. The words “Hollywood Africans 1940s” is meant to show the roles given to blacks in the 1940s as the witless servants who followed the commands of their master. In addition, he uses the “seven stars” and “200 yen” which the equivalent to one United States dollar to show that no matter the amount of work American-Africans place in the entertainment business he or she will always be paid less than their peers even though the work completed was outstanding. The three males painted on the canvas represent Basquiat and his artistic friends, Rammellzee and Toxic, trying to navigate through the entertainment business. The colors were spread throughout the painting in random and contrasting each other causing the words on the painting to pop.

The message behind the painting interests me because it tells about the struggles blacks have to face with being stereotyped and being viewed as one-dimensional in Hollywood. The message is still current, today, given that few lead roles are given to people of color which causes minority actors to resort to playing demeaning roles which can influence a viewer's perception of a culture and generate more stereotypes. I like the style in the artwork because it is complex and words on the painting are spread out causing the viewer to take his or her time to look at each section of the painting to fully understand the meaning behind the painting. In addition, Basquiat style is different from other artists because he uses words and drawings in an abstract way  to convey his feelings. I believe that the painting is beautiful due to the message that can be perceived from the artwork. I have a connection to the painting since the theme of the artwork is about race and the issues with stereotypes. Since, television shows and films tend to portray African-Americans and people of color in a bad light. Thus, causing people who are not in contact with others from different cultures to  believe the stereotypes and make assumptions when he or she eventually  meets a person of a different race.